The COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Assessment in Nigeria Study was designed to generate evidence to inform policymakers’ decisions to upscale and deploy COVID-19 and other routine vaccination campaigns in the country. The C-19 VHAN study is a spin-off of PSHAN’s Alliance for Epidemic Preparedness and Response (A4EPR) project targeted at strengthening epidemic response in Nigeria and is sponsored by Sanofi.

It has been established that vaccines are effective and reliable public health interventions against viral outbreaks and pandemics. The largest, single factor which prevents Nigeria from recording optimal vaccination rates is vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services. It is currently estimated that four out of ten Nigerians are unwilling to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Because vaccine hesitancy is driven by context-specific factors, it is important that these factors are understood and accounted for within risk communication interventions. Due to competing priorities and the urgency of addressing the pandemic, it became imperative, to design this project aimed at strengthening vaccination programs.

The Study is being implemented in Lagos, Kano, and the FCT and is due to be completed in March 2023. The key output from the study will be:

1. A Report containing key findings and recommendations
2. a pilot community awareness and sensitization campaign with the aim of improving the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination and other routine immunization
3. Policy Dialogue Workshop involving a wide array of stakeholders to translate evidence to action.